Spreewald postkahn

A cover from Germany 🇩🇪 

I received this cover from my good friend Tom of Austria, who had posted it before the lockdown! And this is one of the first covers I received after the long drawn lockdown.. my mailbox has been empty and bees have made it their home .. I am really happy to receive mails again. And I hope to give another new life to this blog ! 

The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic. Approximately 400 kilometres in length, it is a left bank tributary of the River Havel, which itself flows into the Elbe and then the North Sea. It is the river on which the original centre of Berlin was built.

The Spreewald is a section of the German state of Brandenburg located about 100 km south-east of Berlin. It was the center of the Battle of Halbe at the end of World War II, which included the last major land conflicts between German and Soviet forces. Spreewald was designated a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1991. It is known for its traditional irrigation system, consisting of more than 200 small canals within the 484-square-kilometre area.

Spreewaldkahn is the name for a shallow boat that can be moved with a pack, which is often found in the rivers and canals of the Spreewald and was used there for a long time as the main means of transport. While the original Spreewald barges are made of wood, sheet steel and aluminum have been used more and more recently. The lifespan of a wooden barge is only about 15 years due to the ban on various wood preservatives, while barges made of sheet steel or aluminum last at least 50 years, with lower acquisition costs. The Spreewald is a biosphere reserve and therefore a general driving ban applies. Residents can use Spreewald barges without a driving machine for non-commercial purposes.

In  Spreewald, district of Lübbenau-Lehde, the post is also delivered with a Spreewald barge - at least in the ice-free period. During the warmer months, mail is delivered in this unique way on the waterways of this bi-lingual area. Every year the german post issues a special postmark at the beginning of the season. The red stamp at the bottom is a confirmation, that the cover was carried on one of this post boats.

The pictures of Spreewald looks really enticing, and I wish to visit this part of the world someday ! I also want to search for previous years’ Spreewald postkahn postmarks ... the cover makes a great addition to my collection of covers sent through a postoffice on water.